


She Doesn't Bow Easily

by iced_kaytea



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Claude von Riegan is a Little Shit, F/M, Fire Emblem: Three Houses Golden Deer Route, Pre-Time Skip, Student My Unit | Byleth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-30
Updated: 2019-10-30
Packaged: 2021-01-12 22:11:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,480
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21233384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iced_kaytea/pseuds/iced_kaytea
Summary: When Byleth began her educational journey at Garreg Mach Monastery, joining dozens upon dozens of other young adults like herself, she found herself building relationships more easily than she had initially expected.What she did not expect was that out of every student there, the one she would not get along with to be the young sovereign duke of the Alliance himself, Claude Von Riegan.





	She Doesn't Bow Easily

When Byleth began her educational journey at Garreg Mach Monastery, joining dozens upon dozens of other young adults like herself, she found herself building relationships more easily than she had initially expected.

What she did not expect was that out of every student there, the one she would not get along with to be the young sovereign duke of the Alliance himself, Claude Von Riegan.

Byleth couldn’t really begin to explain where the disconnect in their relationship began– after the incident with the three young lords, the other two House Leaders practically groveled for the attention and loyalty of hers, but Claude seemingly dismissed the idea. It piqued her interest, admittedly, but not to the point of wanting to be his best friend. But when the time came for selecting a house, her indecision between the prince and princess led her towards making a decision out of desperation and settling for the Golden Deer.

She was quickly accepted by everyone in her small group. All but the leader, who despite his kind words and disposition, lacked the warmth she felt from everyone else.

At first, she dismissed the feeling as paranoia; being in the presence of royalty was sure to make anyone nervous. But as time passed, the paranoia became solidified as actual fact when it became obvious that he did not trust her.

Perhaps it didn’t help that she quickly grew to not be a fan of his either.

It started quickly in classes. Byleth found irritation becoming a frequent visitor of hers thanks to the young duke. He challenged her often, making her second guess her decisions. In training, she stumbled more than she would’ve liked thanks to the judgment that settled in his features. Out of frustration, she landed herself in some archery classes, desperate for proving herself and perhaps besting the best archer in their house.

It wasn’t her finest moment.

The small group she ended up joining was attended by none other than Claude himself, and for whatever reason, he relished giving her a hard time there more than anything.

Luckily, Byleth took comfort in how quickly she picked up the art of archery, landing more hits on the targets than the majority of the class. The instructor was impressed and took the time to teach her combat arts, and she found herself progressing even further at impeccable speeds. However, she couldn’t dismiss the self-induced annoyance that she had, having become borderline obsessed with perfecting her archery skills and taking it upon herself to spend a good chunk of her free time outside of classes training.

The range was completely abandoned. Byleth took comfort in the lack of bodies in the area. Given it was a Saturday night, she imagined that a majority of her peers were off in the town or doing more exciting activities instead of firing arrows at wooden targets. The thought didn’t bug her though. Less people around meant for time for her to achieve what she showed up for in the first place.

She fired off her first shot, landing a hit near the edge of the target. A scowl crossed her face before she quickly shook it off, grabbing another arrow. She drew back the string, taking extra care to aim and hold herself steady. She released, watching the arrow fly, hitting the center of the target.

Bullseye.

Byleth couldn’t stop the grin from stretching across her face. Pride swelled in her chest as she admired her aim for a moment longer.

The sound of a low whistle, crisp and clear as the evening sky, danced to her ears. She spun on her heel quickly, spotting the source. Claude strolled next to her as he inspected the damage done to the target. 

“Not bad. Much better than your first shot, I must say.”

The comment made Byleth bristle. She scoffed, reaching into her quiver and drawing back another arrow. “Well you know what they say-” She pauses, releasing her hold. The arrow smacks the bullseye. She smiles to herself, redirecting her attention to the boy next to her. “Practice makes perfect.”

Claude chuckles to himself. “They do say that, now don’t they?”

“Can I help you, Claude?”

His face lights up at her tone. “What? I can’t come to spend time with one of my fellow deer?” His tone is the slightest bit sarcastic, and Byleth has to swallow down the groan in her throat.

“Seriously.”

“Okay, okay,” he relents, raising his hands in mock defeat. “But really, I saw you and couldn’t help myself from stopping by.”

A hand makes it way to settle on her hip. Her head falls to the side, hair falling over her shoulder. “Me of all people?”

“You make it sound like I don’t like you.”

“Well, you never said that you did like me.”

“Is that what you’re stuck on?” He frowns, and she notices it deepen at the shake of her head.

“Call me crazy to say that I can’t exactly feel the chemistry here.”

Her dry tone elicits a laugh from the Golden Deer leader. “I can at least admit that I may not have been the most fair to you. Perhaps I should’ve laid off the pressure.”

His tone knocks down one of her walls, and she feels slight guilt bubble in her chest. “Mind if I ask why?”

“Well,” he begins, throwing his arms behind his head. “I couldn’t help but challenge you. I saw the way you moved and fought when you helped me, Dimitri, and Edelgard. It was hypnotising, really.” He licks his lips for a moment, and Byleth tries to resist the heat crawling across her face at her staring. “I already knew what you were capable of, so when you landed in my house, I had a thought: how far can I bend her”—his finger pulling slightly on the string of her bow—”before she breaks?”

He ends his speech with a snap of the string. The way his voice lowers sends a chill down her spine, and Byleth is now fully kicking herself for being unable to stop the way her face flushes. “Is that so?” she manages to squeak out. Since when did she turn into a puddle because of one boy? 

“That’s not all,” he says, his voice becoming more hushed. Her eyes grow as he steps towards her, invading her space. She becomes aware of the railing pushing against her back, refusing to let her retreat any further. “You’re different. An outsider.”

She swallows, her eyes flickering all over him. 

“I’m an outsider too, you know.” He shrugs. “We’re kind of in the same boat here. When I saw how you were so unaware of so much, it made me kind of glad. Glad to have someone to relate to, not being from around here. But then I realized afterwards how powerful you were. And that, was unusual. Call me crazy for wanting to investigate a little.” 

Byleth furrows her brow at him, trying to grab hold onto some sort of dominance over the situation. “I’m not a test subject you can just experiment on.”

“I know, I know,” he relents before continuing. “But it was still something that prompted my curiosity. So- allow me to formally apologize for driving you up a wall.”

He flashes a grin at her, and Byleth sputters briefly. “Pardon?”

“Oh don’t get me wrong– I’m still going to drive you up a wall. Just hopefully moving forward as a comrade and what have you,” he finishes with a wave of the hand.

Byleth hopes the twitch she feels in her eye isn’t noticeable.

“Perhaps I can involve you in a scheme or two.”

She crosses her arms over her chest defensively. “Just because we’re comrades doesn’t mean you can string me along all you want.”

Claude snickers at her defiance. “I know, but I can definitely try.”

“You’re unbelievable,” she snorts, rolling her eyes.

Claude says nothing, smiling at her as she turns her attention back to the target. Another pull of the string and another arrow meets the middle of the board. She peeks back at him, smug.

“You know, I still think I’ve got a decent handle on this.”

“Just because you can hit a still target doesn’t guarantee you can hit a moving one.”

“You want to test that theory?” Byleth dares him, an eyebrow raised. She hands the bow over to him, Claude accepting the weapon. They swap positions, and as though mirroring her actions, he draws back on the arrow.

The arrow soars through the air and meets the tail of one of Byleths’, easily splitting it down the middle. Her jaw drops. Claude stands there, whistling casually. 

“You stick to your sword. Leave the arrow business to me.”

Regaining her composure, she meets his eyes, slightly more confident than before.

“I think we can make that work.”

**Author's Note:**

> I think I'm going to take another crack at this idea another time, but with further expansion on them actually not getting along or butting heads- I like some good ole angst!


End file.
